On the heels of winning the design for the new Etobicoke Civic Centre in Toronto, Henning Larsen Architects has been announced victorious in an international competition for a landmark tower in the heart of Manila. Sited in Bonifacio Global City, the 308-metre-tall Icone Tower will shine like a lighthouse at night with an illuminated pinnacle, and during the day, offer panoramic views from a public observatory.

The sharply extruded form of the tower maximizes daylight and panoramas, image via Henning Larsen Architects

"We aimed to create a design that will be the benchmark of how a highrise can give back," said Claude Bøjer Godefroy, Partner and Design Director in Henning Larsen's Hong Kong office. "The project is characterized by a high degree of responsibility, in relation to not only materials and production but also regarding positive, social spaces encouraging intimacy and community."

The Icone Tower rendered into the Manila skyline, image via Henning Larsen Architects

A plaza serves as the project's plinth, with a smattering of tall trees introduced to provide shade and shelter for the public, mimicking the atmosphere of the Filipino tropical forest. Henning Larsen wanted to capture the importance of large gatherings and celebrations to Filipino culture, which positions public spaces as platforms for festive assemblies.

A diagrid exoskeleton erupts from the ground, image via Henning Larsen Architects

The bulk of the tower will be devoted to office space benefitting from a steady stream of natural light and generously sized social and green spaces. A public observatory at the very top complements the pointed form of the skyscraper. 

A soaring atrium blurs the line between the observation deck and the apex of the tower, image via Henning Larsen Architects

Claude Bøjer Godefroy applauded the proposal as a milestone project for Manila and the Philippines. "We aimed to make it a truly Filipino building by understanding and integrating elements of Filipino nature, culture and climate," he said. "The tower also represents an effort to discover what contemporary Filipino architecture is about, and we hope it can inspire other local builders to join this search for identity and character."

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